Tongues of Serpents Page 0,12

thus erased, Laurence's small quarters now made a comfortable if not luxurious residence by his standards, formed in his youth by the dimensions of a midshipman's cot. Meanwhile the small shelter on the dragons' promontory remained unroofed and as yet lacked its final wall, but Laurence felt bruised more in spirit than in body, and the weather held dry; he went below only to collect a few articles, and quitted the ship to seek refuge in Temeraire's company.

In this mood, he was by no means prepared to be accosted on the track back up to the promontory by a gentleman on horseback, of aquiline face and by the standards of the colony elegantly dressed, who leaned from his horse and demanded, "Am I speaking with Mr. Laurence?"

"You have the advantage of me," Laurence said, a little rudely in his own turn; but he was not inclined to regret his curtness when the man said, "I am John MacArthur; I should like a word."

There was little question he was the architect of the entire rebellion; and though he had arranged to be appointed Colonial Secretary, he had so far not even given Riley the courtesy of a call. "You choose odd circumstances for your request, sir," Laurence said, "and I do not propose to stand speaking in the dust of the street. You are welcome to accompany me to the covert, if you like; although I would advise you to leave your horse."

He was a little surprised to find MacArthur willing to hand his reins to the groom, and dismount to walk with him. "I hear you had a little difficulty in the town to-day," MacArthur said. " - I am very sorry it should have happened.

"You must know, Mr. Laurence, we have had a light hand on the rein here; a light hand, and it has answered beautifully, beyond all reasonable hopes. Our colony does not show to advantage, you may perhaps think, coming from London; but I wonder what you would think if you had been here in our first few years. I came in the year 'ninety; will you credit it, that there were not a thousand acres under cultivation, and no supply? We nearly starved, one and all, three times."

He stopped and held out a hand, which trembled a little. "They have been so, since that first winter," he said, and resumed walking.

"Your perseverance is to be admired," Laurence said, "and that of your fellows."

"If nothing else, that for certain sure," MacArthur said. "But it has not been by chance, or any easy road, that we have found success; only through the foresight of wise leadership and the strength of determined men. This is a country for a determined man, Mr. Laurence. I came here a lieutenant, with not a lick of property to my name; now I have ten thousand acres. I do not brag," he added. "Any man can do here what I have done. This is a fine country."

There was an emphasis on any man, which Laurence found distasteful in the extreme; he read the slinking bribery in MacArthur's pretty speech as easily as he had in Bligh's whispers of pardon, and he pressed his lips together and stretched his pace.

MacArthur perceived his mistake, perhaps; he increased his own to match and said, to shift the subject, "But what does Government send us? You have been a Navy officer yourself, Mr. Laurence; you have had the dregs of the prison-hulks pressed into service; you know what I am speaking of. Such men are not formed for respectability. They can only be used, and managed, and to do it requires rum and the lash - it is the very understanding of the service. I am afraid it has made us all a little coarse here, however; we are ill-served by the proportion of our numbers. I wonder how you would have liked a crew of a hundred, five and ninety of them gaol-birds, and not five able seamen to your name."

"Sir, you are correct in this much: I have had a little difficulty, earlier in the day," Laurence said, pausing in the road; his ribs ached sharply in his side, "so I will be frank; you might have had conversation of myself, or of Captain Riley or Captain Granby, as it pleased you, these last three weeks, for the courtesy of a request. May I ask you to be a little more brief?"

"Your reproach is a just one," MacArthur said, "and I will not tire